Chapter 67
***
Jürgen Klopp carefully thought back to Mainz's next opponent. Naturally, the face of the manager who was young—no, almost childishly so—came to mind.
‘Union Berlin's Park....’
A manager I'd always wanted to meet at least once.
‘An assistant coach at 18? And a second-division manager at 20? Impressive.’
That was how much Park Chan-hyeok's résumé had become a major talking point in Germany.
In fact, when it was announced that Park Chan-hyeok would replace Thomas Tuchel, a great deal of concern broke out. People were saying a twenty-year-old kid with no managerial experience couldn't possibly handle a pro team.
On betting sites where you could wager on everything from football matches to politics, odds even appeared on how many games it would take before Park Chan-hyeok got sacked.
But Park Chan-hyeok's Union Berlin pulled off an upset by taking down Leverkusen and Cologne.
[Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel lavishes praise on his protégé Park Chan-hyeok.... ‘People are blinded by prejudice and can't see the essence right now.’]
Jürgen Klopp recalled Thomas Tuchel's interview and felt regret.
‘If only I'd known their tactics last year.’
Thomas Tuchel and Park Chan-hyeok's tactics were that sensational.
There was so much to learn from watching the two of them.
It felt as if they had taken the Gegenpressing I'd imagined and pushed it one step further.
‘Then Mainz and I might have been able to stay in the first division too.’
In fact, gegenpressing is effective when weaker teams try to take down stronger ones, but it is also a tactic with a fatal flaw.
‘If the number of matches increases, they'll wear out in the second half of the season because of fitness issues.’
Union Berlin's back-to-back promotions up to the second division were also possible because of that.
The fact that they didn't participate in any competitions besides the league had a big impact.
If Union Berlin hadn't entered the DFB-Pokal, they might have run into fitness problems late in the season and missed important matches.
‘I should've looked into Union Berlin's tactics too when I was trying to bring in that guy Yannick Voigt.’
Jürgen Klopp knew Yannick Voigt was performing well at Union Berlin, but analyzing a lower-division team's tactics was inevitably difficult.
Mainz was a small club, after all.
There were inevitably limits to what a small club could do.
‘To begin with, among first-division clubs, there aren't many that pay much attention to lower divisions.’
Since the job of being a manager is so overwhelmingly busy, analysis is naturally limited unless the team is your next opponent.
The papers on Jürgen Klopp's desk, covered in an all-nighter's worth of Union Berlin tactical analysis, caught his eye.
‘Come to think of it, wasn't Yannick one of the players Park discovered.... I'm looking forward to facing a versatile guy.’
Jürgen Klopp was looking forward to the match against Union Berlin.
With a smile on his face, he shifted his gaze to the side and looked over the tactical notebook that analyzed Thomas Tuchel's tactics as well.
For the record, analyzing Thomas Tuchel's tactics was, of course, necessary in preparation for Union Berlin. Tuchel had been Union Berlin's previous manager, and Park Chan-hyeok simply hadn't managed enough matches yet.
‘By the way, I'd wanted to face a manager named Thomas Tuchel too....’
For now, it seemed difficult to guarantee victory even if they faced each other.
“…Munich is cheating.”
In the Bundesliga, Munich's very existence was a cheat code by sheer size alone.
***
Jürgen Klopp.
A great manager every football fan had no choice but to know.
He was the legendary coach who rebuilt the great clubs of Dortmund and Liverpool, both of which had been half-collapsing.
He had outstanding tactical ability and superb player management, and he was great at entertaining people too.
Unlike Thomas Tuchel, the cold tactician with no humanity, he was overall a manager who felt human.
‘...I can't lose.’
I felt a fierce sense of rivalry toward Jürgen Klopp unlike anything I'd ever felt before.
‘At the very least, I can't lose in entertainment value....’
In other words, I was starting to feel that I couldn't let Jürgen Klopp steal my spotlight.
A football match?
Sorry, but the ball is round.
Football is a sport where you can lose to an unexpected underdog.
But losing in entertainment value would be proof that I was worse than Jürgen Klopp.
Well, that's just a light joke.
I was only a little excited because I was about to face off against a manager I'd only ever seen on TV.
‘I'm in the highest of HIGH spirits.’
Anyway, just as social skills are a fatal weakness for tactical genius Thomas Tuchel.
Jürgen Klopp, too, is a manager with flaws.
‘He just mishandles the transfer market and signings a bit....’
Personally, that's why I consider Jürgen Klopp a superstar.
He drove Liverpool fans crazy with transfer dealings no one could understand.
‘A man who drives both fans and haters crazy....’
And whether it's because he trusts his own ability to get the best out of players or because of his bond with them.
He has a strong tendency to cling to hopeless players and try to play 'faith football' with them.
‘If it had been Tuchel, he'd have cut him loose immediately.’
Personally, I think Klopp is the type who needs a cool-headed general manager or sporting director.
‘Someone like sporting director Michael Zorc, or Michael Edwards.’
After I shared Jürgen Klopp's strengths and weaknesses, assistant coach Daniel Teixeira stared at me intently.
“…Chan-hyeok, isn't that a bit like you?”
Me?
“Think about Yannick Voigt and Thomas Meyer. Especially Yannick Voigt—I heard his skill level wasn't enough to become a pro. But you were the one who got fixated on him and signed him yourself, weren't you? Just that case alone makes you seem similar to Klopp, doesn't it?”
Nah, that's different from me.
Because I had that inhuman thing called a scout.
But that doesn't mean Daniel Teixeira's words are completely wrong.
In fact, up until my regression, I was the same type as Jürgen Klopp.
Probably because, as a community club, we had to somehow run the club with limited resources.
‘Come to think of it, Klopp also spent his coaching career at Mainz, a small club, and Dortmund, which was in financial ruin.’
Maybe the habit he formed back then is what shaped Jürgen Klopp's footballing style.
‘If I spent a season with Tuchel, I could probably change my mind completely.’
I had a lot to learn from Thomas Tuchel.
For the record, on the tactical side, it was closer to me teaching Tuchel.
After all, I had the cheat called future knowledge.
Though that trick got burned through pretty quickly, too.
While I was lost in thought, Daniel Teixeira continued.
“And you're quite the superstar yourself.”
I looked at the newspaper Daniel Teixeira handed me and nodded.
After the win against Cologne, the front page showed me doing the knee-slide celebration.
‘But why is Yannick glaring at me from behind....’
Does he have beef with society or something?
***
[Mainz's Jürgen Klopp vs Union Berlin's Park Chan-hyeok, a face-off between two managers who are similar yet different.]
[Union Berlin manager Park Chan-hyeok, “I will win, staking the honor of Asia on it.”]
└?
└?
└?
└ No, why are you staking Asia's honor on it;;
[Mainz manager Jürgen Klopp, in response to Park Chan-hyeok's words.... “Then I'll stake Europe's honor.”]
└ Why is this guy staking Europe's honor too, lol?
└ This is seriously insane, lol
***
Before the match started, I exchanged greetings with Jürgen Klopp.
Klopp had come over to find me first.
“Oh. Park! I've wanted to meet you at least once. By the way, I heard from Cha Do-ri that in Korea the family name comes first. Is that right?”
Seeing Jürgen Klopp in person, how should I put it...
“Wow. He's insanely tall.”
He was just tall.
“What, you still can't speak German?”
Disappointment settled on Jürgen Klopp's face. It seemed he had been looking forward to talking with me.
“I can.”
When I answered in German, Jürgen Klopp's expression brightened.
“Your German accent sounds like an old man's.”
Well, I learned it from old videos.
“By the way, then why did you speak Korean?”
“Just a love for my mother tongue.”
“That's a good attitude.”
Jürgen Klopp laughed and patted me on the shoulder, and I was able to spend some time building rapport with him.
***
The match began at Mainz's Stadion am Bruchberg.
We battled fiercely from the kickoff.
Then, in the 12th minute of the first half.
Union Berlin managed to rattle Mainz's net.
The moment Mainz's net rippled, I ran.
촤르르르륵─.
I successfully pulled off a fantastic knee-slide celebration.
However, there was a problem.
Yannick Voigt's shot was disallowed.
When I turned my head toward the touchline, the assistant referee was raising his offside flag.
“…Hey, that's offside, though.”
Well. It was a minor issue.
“But it was cool, right?”